Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 1
Cosmic Night, Nārāyaṇa as Brahmā, and the Varāha Raising of the Earth
इति श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायां पूर्वविभागे पञ्चमो ऽध्यायः श्रीकूर्म उवाच आसीदेकार्णवं घोरमविभागं तमोमयम् / शान्तवातादिकं सर्वं न प्रज्ञायत किञ्चन
iti śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pūrvavibhāge pañcamo 'dhyāyaḥ śrīkūrma uvāca āsīdekārṇavaṃ ghoramavibhāgaṃ tamomayam / śāntavātādikaṃ sarvaṃ na prajñāyata kiñcana
Thus, in the Śrī Kūrma Purāṇa, in the six‑thousand‑verse Saṃhitā, in the Pūrva‑bhāga (First Part)—(end of the previous chapter). Śrī Kūrma said: “There existed a single, dreadful ocean—undivided and made of darkness. All was stilled: wind and the rest; nothing whatsoever could be discerned.”
Lord Kurma (Vishnu)
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By describing a state where no distinctions are perceptible—an undifferentiated, unmanifest condition—it implies that names and forms are contingent, while the deeper ground of reality (Atman/Brahman) is beyond division and ordinary cognition.
The verse points to the archetype of nirodha (stilling): when “wind and the rest” are quieted, activity ceases. In Yogic terms, it gestures toward the inward dissolution of vṛttis and prāṇa-movements that precedes higher contemplation.
Although spoken by Lord Kurma (Vishnu), the imagery of dissolution and the stilling of cosmic functions aligns with Shaiva pralaya metaphysics as well, reflecting the Kurma Purana’s tendency to harmonize Vaishnava narration with Shaiva-Yogic doctrine.